Stay safe on July 4th

Finalizing all of your July 4 holiday plans? Don't forget to include the following safety tips on your checklist. Remember to include these tips in your holiday plans to ensure a safe, fun-filled holiday for you and your family.

Heat Safety

Heat-related illness, such as heat exhaustion and heatstroke, occur when your body can not keep itself cool. Do you know the difference between heat exhaustion and heatstroke?

Heat Exhaustion: This happens when your body gets too hot. You may experience: heavy sweating, feeling week, confusion, dizziness, nausea, headache, and rapid heartbeat. If you experience these symptoms get out of the heat quickly and drink plenty of water. You can also take a cool shower or bath and you should remove any tight clothing.

Heatstroke: This happens when the internal body temperature reaches 104 degrees Farenheit. Heatstroke is much more serious than heat exhaustion and can cause damage to your organs and brain. Some symptoms of heatstroke include: high fever (104 F or higher), severe headache, dizziness, flushed or red appearance, lack of sweating, weakness, cramps, nausea, vomiting, fast breath and heartbreak, confusion, and in sever cases seizures. Anyone who believes they are experiencing heatstroke should seek immediate medical attention and should get immediately out of the heat.

Water and Swim Safety

Follow these tips to keep safe for all your water fun:

Always swim with a buddy.

Children should always be supervised by an adult.

Do not dive in water less than 9 feet deep and never dive in above ground pools.

Always wear U.S Coast Guard approved life jackets when boating.

Enter water feet first before ever diving to test if the area is safe.

Immediately empty and store buckets and wading pools after every use.

Watch undercurrents.

Use safety covers on pools and spas.

Learn CPR.

Swim parallel to the shore if you are caught in a rip current.

Burn Safety

Burns can come from heat, fire, radiation, sunlight, electricity, chemicals, and hot or boiling water. A popular summer and 4th of July activity is grilling, which can also be a major concern with burns.

There are 3 degrees of burns:

First-degree burns: These burns are red and painful. They usually take 3-6 days to heal.

Second-degree burns: These burns are thicker, very painful, cause swollen skin, and typically produce blisters. The burns usually take 2-3 weeks to heal.

Third-degree burns: These burns cause damage to all layers of the skin and typically have nerve damage so they may cause little to no pain. The burns take a very long time to heal depending on the burn severity. You should seek immediate medical attention if you believe you have suffered this degree of burn.